


The Mountain

by bioticgoddess



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 22:02:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13984224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bioticgoddess/pseuds/bioticgoddess
Summary: Series Summary: The Avengers (Tony really) finds the HYDRA base where Bucky underwent surgery to replace his arm and initial/secondary conditioning after his fall from the freight train.Chapter Summary: When they go to investigate the Alpine Base everything goes to shit.





	1. Chapter 1

**The Mountain: Five Days**

 

They had found it. Well, Tony had found it. The HYDRA base where Bucky had been taken and worked on immediately following the fall from the freight train. It was deep in the Alps and, much like Siberia, any paved roadway to it was blocked in by snow. The base’s main entry was carved into the foot of the mountain, meant to be hidden and difficult to access for any who didn’t know about it. Inside, the team had paired off in order to recon the abandoned facility - Steve and Bucky, Nat and Clint, Sam and Taryn.

That had been where everything went FUBAR. They had relied on their Intel; it had been very wrong. The base was not only active but staffed, albeit a skeleton crew compared to most of the HYDRA facilities the group, even Bucky and Taryn, had run into since the fall of HYDRA. They’d gotten into fights with the agents and, surprisingly well armed/trained, technical staff. Right until one of them slipped past Steve and managed to trigger the base’s fail safe.

After that, and for the first time in years, Bucky woke from a nightmare and Taryn wasn’t there to help him out of the fog and back to center.

He cried.

After the HYDRA agent had triggered the self destruct, the team had scrambled to evacuate the facility. Even sweeping up as many unconscious HYDRA staff as they could. As charges went off around them, knocking out supports and walls, it brought a part of the mountain down in multi-ton chunks. Everyone managed to get out at higher levels within the base except Taryn. The Inhuman had been in the vehicle bay, heading for the main garage access door when she’d been trapped inside. Some of the rock ceiling and fallen at the end of the tarmac and blocked the outer door.

Pushing out of his bed, Bucky walked heavily to his desk. Lump in his throat, mouth dry and cottony, his mind played everything over from that mission. It was like a rerun of a bad horror movie. A photo of he and Taryn from their first few weeks back in the states greeted him. One from before he had mustered up the courage and kissed her. She smiled out of the frame at him.

“I’m so sorry doll,” he whispered, reaching out to run his fingers along the image of her cheek.

Closing his eyes, their last conversation replayed in his mind. “Guys, I…I don’t think I’m getting out,” she whispered into the comm. They could hear the rock coming down around her.

Desperation colored Bucky’s voice as he started to answer her. To try and keep her focused on getting out, “We’ll come get you, where in th-”

“Bucky there’s no way to get here! I’m stuck behind a wall of rock.” She cut him off, crying, he could hear the her voice break, “Bucky I -,” then her com had cut out. That had been five days ago. Five days. And he felt like he’d lost a limb all over again.

—

Day 1:

She’d found an alcove, a drainage access cut in the wall of the mountain where HYDRA must have once pumped out water and G0d knows what else. It had been a split second decision and has lost her both her com and her cell phone in the process. The way she landed cut a couple nasty lines down her right thigh and calf, but she was able to get a barrier up around the outside of the corrugated metal tube. Inevitably the rocks stopped falling, the world stopped shaking, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Well this is a fine kettle of fish you’ve landed yourself in Lantz. Brilliant,” she chastised herself softly, trying to staunch the bleeding on her right leg.

“Okay,” she took a deep breath, stripping off the first of the two tank tops under her jacket. With some help from her pocket knife, the Inhuman split the garment into strips and wrapped them around the worst of the gashes. “No use bleeding out,” she muttered, taking in her surroundings. The whole tunnel was reinforced and led farther out of (or into) the mountain, she wasn’t sure which.

“And no use dying here,” she added, pushing herself to stand faster than her bloody leg appreciated. Clenching her jaw against the bolt of pain she steadied herself.

Limping along, she made up her mind and headed further down the tunnel.

—

Day 5: 1255 Hours

On the flight home, Bucky required sedation. A lot of it. It was that or he was going to jump out of the Quinjet - even if he’d had to fight the others to do it.

Thankfully, Clint’s perfect aim wasn’t limited to his weapons, or golf. He’d hit the other Avenger from the pilot’s seat with a syringe full of enough sedative to knock out the Hulk. All things considered, it seemed like the best course of action at the time. Even now, five days later, he was under constant watch. Steve and Natasha, with the help of FRIDAY, kept him from drowning in the wake of Taryn’s death. Their goal: keep him on some sort of routine so he didn’t have time to let the next hit be his last.  

“Sergeant Barnes,” FRIDAY said, the AI’s lilt jarred him from his work out enjoy that the punching back swung back and hit him.

“Oof. Yea FRIDAY,” he responded slowly. He’d barely broken a sweat. For the first time in years felt like an utter failure in ways he couldn’t yet articulate. That said, it made his lackluster attempt at boxing less than surprising. There was a long pause that made him physically uncomfortable; he called out “FRIDAY?”

The AI’s voice rang out in response, “Apologies Sergeant. Mr. Stark was correcting the time but there’s a meeting at 1700 this afternoon in the media room. I haven’t been given any specifics beyond that” She apologized again to Bucky before signing off.

Looking at the clock he sighed heavily. It was 1300, he had time to prepare for the meeting. To steel himself against more bad news. The last one, three days earlier, had confirmed what they all knew: HYDRA had brought down the base with a number of precision demolition charges. While unlikely, SHIELD was going to search for survivors and bodies alike.

He swallowed, he needed time to try and get his head on straight for the meeting and whatever it was about.

Since returning to the Compound, he had even less love for group activities right now. In a lot of ways he wasn’t sure he would ever be okay being social again. Even with Steve. At least not like he had been before this last mission. He swallowed, dragging himself to the men’s showers. “C’mon Sarge! You can do better than that,” he could hear Taryn tease him about the work out. Something she did even when he was in fine form.

“Yea, well, you aren’t here to make me now are you,” he grumbled, the double doors swinging behind him.

—

DAY 2:

Between her biotics and what brute force she could muster, Taryn had found her way out of the drainage pipe. It had, thankfully, found the outside of the mountain. She’d slid down the steel and bruised her tailbone before the thing leveled out. As she ambled down the mountain, dragging herself through the the woods towards what looked like a village, she breathed heavily. “Alright Sarge, got any words of wisdom for me?” If only he were there.

Everything hurt.

She tumbled back down the last few feet of the incline, landing face first in the dirt and laughed at herself. “Keep your feet under you doll,” she muttered, half mimicking Bucky’s intonation and tone. It also added a number of additional bruises and minor scrapes to her hands, arms and a nice one along her left cheek bone.

There was an old gas station near the edge of the town in the valley before her, closer to her than any of the other buildings. If she was lucky there would be an first aid kit and a functional phone. And people would be easy to avoid.

Like a depressing majority of her generation, Taryn didn’t know most of the phone numbers she’d received in recent years. Those she did recall were old and probably disconnected. Nor was it like she could call an operator and ask to be connected to the Avengers Compound or the mobile phones for Captain America or any other Avenger. No, all their phone numbers were unlisted and the devices heavily encrypted. Even the one she lost in that mountain.

Then she it on it, a Eureka moment and one number for a friend from college came to her. And one who owed her a favor.

Several favors.

—-

Day 5: 1400 Hours

He’d been hit with a wave of emptiness almost immediately after he’d gotten back to his room from the gym. The bed looked empty, the kind of empty that made him so acutely upset he’d actually thrown up. It came from knowing that she wouldn’t be curled up next to him again. The second he’d been balanced enough to do so, he practically ran from the room.

Ultimately, Bucky found Wanda in her room.

Wanda, he knew, felt Taryn’s loss as acutely as he did. The girls had become thick as thieves during their time in Wakanda. From what he understood, she was the closest thing to best friend (besides himself) the Inhuman had.

“How are you holding up,” he asked, half startling the brunette from her thoughts.

She smiled half heartedly, “It’s not as bad as Pietro, but…” She trailed off, hand skimming a long some photos of the two women from earlier in the year. From some party Stark had thrown in the compound - one of the two or three done shortly after the others returned to the states. “How about you,” she asked after a moment, closing the album.

He shrugged. Bucky hadn’t really come to talk about how he felt. He’d come to be around someone else who was to Taryn. His hesitation was almost palpable. Swallowing he managed, “Like my whole world’s gone…again.”

“They don’t want to declare her dead, not til there’s a body to bury,” Wanda said, palming the pendant sized urn around her neck. It was all she had left of Pietro, physically at least. Of his person. The way he’d influenced her life, however, was there to stay. Running her thumb over it, she whispered, “My brother, it was…easy, well easier, to give him a proper send off. His body came back with us. Her…I just hope they find her soon. She deserves better than this.”

Bucky nodded. He couldn’t argue there.

—

DAY 3:

There had been a phone. Praise Jesus there had been a phone! Even better, a set of keys for one of the cars in the gas station’s lot - practically begging her to take them. She’d dialed the phone number she remembered and prayed - to whoever was listening - that her college buddy still had the same number. It had been a miracle when the Frenchman - Luca - had answered. It got even better when he confirmed his sister - Juliana - was refueling the family jet for a trip.

After some cajoling…and agreeing this would set the pair even, they’d set up a rendez-vous point just outside the mountain range near Zermatt. Which, based now what Taryn told them about her location, was the closest town to where she’d fallen out of the mountain. Juliana could land just about anywhere. Including water if she had the right plane.

It had taken several hours of careful driving, and a few panic attacks about driving along mountain roads, but the Inhuman made it. Idling by the side of the roadway that Juliana and Luca had picked out, Taryn checked her bandage. “Well this’ll be a nice scar,” she muttered. The first aide kit she’d picked up from the gas station left much to be desired but with it she’d managed to do the job.

Settling in the back seat of the car, injured leg propped up, Taryn drifted off to an uncomfortably restless sleep.

—

Day 5: 1545 Hours

Steve had found him, isolated in his room, and brought food he hoped the other centenarian would eat.  

Bucky merely picked at his food. He maybe ate half the sandwich and didn’t touch anything else on the plate at first. There were some chips, a couple pickle slices, and a cookie. Things he’d have practically swallowed whole in any other situation. He’d always had the bigger appetite out of the two, even now. Well, until the second trip to the Mountain. That was two things the Alps had stolen from Bucky.

“I can’t tell you it gets better. But you’re not alone,” Steve said, squeezing his best friend’s shoulder. He had, as they all knew, lost Peggy for the final time just before finding Bucky in Romania. Despite his relationship with Sharon, the void left by her aunt was always there. Changing his tone some, he added, “But, you also know how much crap she’d give you for not eating.”

That made Bucky chuckle and he finally pulled a chip off his plate, crunching it slowly.

Bucky ate his way through half the chips before the nausea hit. And it hit every time he even thought about eating, and that assumed even had any appetite at all. Clint had noticed it before Steve, that he had had next to zero appetite. He had pointed it out to him on their second day back that Bucky hadn’t eaten, or even drank, anything since getting back to New York.

Between that and the nightmares this was most time they had spent together in one room since the mission.

He wouldn’t even speak to Sam, who’d been paired off with Taryn in the base. Despite protocol, the two had split up to investigate opposite floors. They hadn’t even been in line of sight to one another by the time HYDRA started bringing down the mountain. If they had, both men surmised, then she would be in the infirmary not buried under G0d knew how many tons of stone.

—

Day 4:

The sound of the airplane descending woke her from her fitful sleep. She looked up, rubbing her eyes, as the sleek hunk of metal practically danced its way to the ground.  If she hadn’t known better, Taryn would have sworn it was a QuinJet the way Juliana piloted that thing.

“Where to cheri,” called Luca from the main door as his friend extricated herself from the old SUV.

She chuckled, limping up the passenger on-ramp, “The Avengers Compound, upstate New York. Google it.”

“Oh! I know where it is,” Juliana said as her brother and his friend settle in for the flight. She updated the computer with the new nav data and took off. Everything she did in the cockpit was fast and precise, almost like watching Clint or Nat pilot the Quinjet.

The g-force rattled Taryn, pinning her to the seat temporarily as they took off unceremoniously. “Why does it not surprise me that she knows where the Compound is,” she muttered, wincing as the pressure released.

“Terregensis made my sister, and her eidetic memory that much more annoying” Luca laughed. She had been one of the few dozen Inhumans teens Taryn ferried through New York to pick up points for a couple of the Inhuman enclaves around the world. Places they would, if everything worked, be afforded the opportunity to go through Teregenesis.  

—

Day 5: 1540 Hours

“Hey Taryn! This thing wants some authorization codes or something,” Juliana was frantic, waking the other woman from the first real sleep she’d had in several days. It sounded, however, like FRIDAY was ready to send out the Air Force - or more accurately Tony - to handle the plane.

Clearing her throat, the Inhuman clicked a button on the comms layout, “Relax FRIDAY it’s me. Got some friends to fly me home.”

The AI practically stammered a response, if that was possible, “Voice print confirmed. Now where the hell were you!?”

“Ha. Ha,” she groaned, “Hi mom. So can we land? Because I need one of Bucky’s hugs and a massive cup of coffee.” Caffeine pills had been no substitute for the glorious taste of one of Nat’s or Wanda’s concoctions. “And do me a favor,” she added quickly, “Don’t tell Tony. He’ll want to tell everyone.”

There was a pause before FRIDAY continued, “Go ahead. The team is having a debrief in the media room regarding the Alps Incident shortly, 1700.”

Juliana began landing procedures.

Shaking her head, Taryn asked, “FRIDAY…where’s Bucky?”

“In his quarters,” the AI replied. “Shall I let him know you’re en route?”

Taryn carefully pushed herself up from her seat as the plane landed, “No. I’ll go there first. Thank you FRIDAY,” she said, heading from the plane to the main compound. Only after she made sure he was alright could she let herself do anything else. It had finally, as they landed, dawned on her just how long she’d been gone. The way her comms were cut off, what the team must have thought. What Bucky had to be feeling weighed heavily on her most of all.

She’d been so preoccupied in getting home that she had had time to contemplate anything else.

–

1642 Hours

He had thanked Steve for the food and, unceremoniously kicked his friend out of the room. Stating that he needed some time to himself before the briefing.

He laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. His eyes burned from the tears he’d tried to hold back today. He didn’t want to go to this meeting. He wanted to stay here, in his room with those things of hers that had migrated down from her room to his in the last few months. Today had been the first day he hadn’t cried for hours already.

Rolling over on his side, Bucky could see out over the lawn of the compound. That had been one saving grace in the room placement. That being able to see the open space and freedom meant Bucky never felt confined even when he wasn’t allowed to leave the compound. It had always helped that his Inhuman companion could coerce him into doing something other than stare out the windows or train.

He wrapped his arms around her pillow, burying his face in it - the smell of her was still there. “You’d have something to say about all this wouldn’t you,” he whispered, no energy left in him to cry.

Almost unbidden he could hear her tease him “Like how you shouldn’t have your shoes on the bed.” Her voice was soft. No…it was too loud to have been his imagination. It was almost like she was…

Bucky sat up and spun around with one kick of his legs. His breathing quickened and he felt the dump of endorphins and adrenaline in his system at the sight before him.

Leaning heavily against the door jam in her torn and soiled combat suit, Taryn gave him a soft smile. Her hair was sweaty and matted in those places it had fallen out of the braid over the last five days. She was covered in dirt and dust and looked like she needed a bath more than anything else. “Taryn,” he whispered, pushing himself up to stand, half afraid she’d disappear. Like this was a cruel hallucination, right until she limped over and wrapped her hands around his waist.

“You’re alive,” he said, bowing his head and pressing his face to the crown of her head. The brunette was still standing, in truth she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get back up if she sat down right now.

She whispered into his shoulder, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Bucky.”

“You’re alive,” he repeated, “That’s all that matters.” He was rubbing circles between her shoulder blades.

Smiling she laughed and he kissed the top of her head, “I missed you too Sarge.”

“Hey Buck we -,” Steve called from the hallway going slack-jawed when he saw them. “Taryn! When did…y’know what, never mind. ” Bucky glared at his best friend, he didn’t like the interruption - not at all. And to hell with Tony’s meeting. After a moment, Steve regained his senses, and pulled the door closed. He clicked the lock on the door before it closed - leaving the pair to their reunion. 


	2. Chapter 2

**T** **he MOUNTAIN: The De-Briefing**

Steve had to calm the rest of the team down. Between scolding and tears of joy the media room had erupted in a fervor of emotions. Vision held Wanda, her tears soaking his sweater vest. While Nat looked like the floor had dropped out from under her.  “She’s fine, I think. Wasn’t going to pry her out of Buck’s arms and drag them up here,” Steve said after a minute.  He thought he heard Sam breathe a sigh of relief. “Tony,” he said, turning his attention to the Iron Man, “You can debrief her later.”

After a minute, Sam asked, “How did she look?” He’d felt horrible the last week, blaming himself almost as heavily as Bucky had.

“She looks like she survived a cave-in,” Steve shrugged, “and I’m sure Bucky’ll drag her down to medical.”  It wasn’t an incorrect assessment of how their Inhuman looked but he also wasn’t about to tell the others about the bandages that had been wrapped around her leg.

–

He’d managed to bring himself back to reality, unwrapping himself from the dark haired woman’s embrace to look her over. “You look like shit,” he teased, reaching up and brushing some of her hair back.

Shoving his metal shoulder playfully, she chided, “I mean, I did fall down a mountain.” That, combined with face she made and shrug elicited a laugh from the super soldier.

“C’mon Doll, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, scooping her up bridal style.

Taryn winced as his arm grazed the back of her right leg. “Mmmmm-ah…careful there Sarge,” she hissed, eyes squeezed shut. It hadn’t even been his metal arm that had hit the tender part of her leg! Bucky, however, put her down immediately and snaked around to where he could see the back of her leg better. Carefully he peeled the bandages off her right leg.  

He reached out, metal finger tips tracing the line down the back and outside of the calf gently. There was something in how Taryn fidgeted, squeezing her hands in and out of fists that made him put a his other hand on her hip.“I need to look at this first okay, Doll” he said gently, eyes returning their attention to her leg. “Remember what happened Portugal?” He asked, trying to distract her from the tenderness of her leg.

She snort-laughed. “Which part, not like Portugal was a vacation,” she was getting fidgety again as he fished some scissors off his desk and cut the tear in her pants leg down to just above her boot.  “Hey, I like these pants y’know,” she cautioned.

“You’d lose em in medical regardless doll,” there was a beat where he could see the gash on her calf – it was deep but not bleeding. She’d managed to keep it clean, granted she’d likely still need stitches…after he got her showered and cleaned up. He squeezed her hip again, “And I’m thinking of roofs we had to jump across running from those HYDRA agents. The ones who tracked the boat we sailed in on.”

Nodding, she winced slightly as he followed the line of the gash around to the front of her thigh. Cutting the pant leg another four inches  above her knee. That gash wasn’t half so bad as the one on her calf, in fact it looked more superficial than anything. “Yup. Remember what happened,” He asked, rubbing his thumb across the partially healed wound. His fingers wrapped around her leg and, running them gingerly along the length behind her knee. The action almost earned him a knee in the face when she jerked away.

“Ahh,” she cried out sharply. As he shifted to stand she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “It was the second,” she counted on her fingers momentarily then corrected; Bucky smiled as she dug the memory up in her mind, “No, third time I had to give you stitches. That was so much fun,” she added, the sarcasm like a neon sign on her words. “Someone thought he could make a jump, across an alley, and onto an office building that was one half wider than the previous dozen gaps.”

Dropping the scissors on his night stand and wrapping his arms around her waist he added, “And if someone else hadn’t made a bunch of those low gravity pockets, I might be dead.” Lifting her off the ground got the Inhuman to yelp. She should’ve known better: Bucky Barnes would absolutely take advantage of the situation. “And then scolded me like I was a kid, not a super soldier, not the Winter Solider.” He was laughing now, despite the circumstances surrounding that day, it had become a good memory.

“I can walk y’know,” she said, hands planted on his shoulder as he hefted her higher so she was bent over his shoulder.  

–

The following morning - what would have been Day 6 - they all sat around the big table in the conference room. There was a pile of file folders – mostly sealed, that they’d managed to get out of HYDRA’s base. This was less than they’d intended to find but more than they hoped to get out in one piece. Bucky was uncomfortably thumbing through them along with the others.

He could read the Russian and German documents. Mostly Russian. One of the files was a  dossier on Steve, before the fixed wing plane he fought The Red Skull on crashed. A file composed long after the blonde had gone from being a scrawny Brooklyner to the super soldier Captain America. It noted the total dosage - in number of vials and millilitres - of the Serum given to him. It also speculated on how much they could distill from the blood samples left by the Captain. None had been left by Red Skull - that made Bucky breathe a sigh of relief. At least it increased the likelihood that the little bit which had been available to him - after the fall - was at least pure. Free from that megalomaniac taint.

Despite their loyalty to him, it was apparent that even HYDRA considered Steve Rogers the superior “specimen” compared to their leader.

He looked over to Nat, the only other person at the table who spoke Russian. She had several more recent files. All of them on Red Room Candidates from classes long before hers. He could see some of their photos as she laid the pictures out. She must have known them, they weren’t much older than she was. His spiral of memory, with its usual plummet into self loathing started.

Bucky could see the number of times over the years he’d been brought out of Cryo to train with the KGB’s finest. It had been part of the arrangement HYDRA had with the Russians in exchange for the base in Siberia.

He’d almost killed Nat in one of the training sessions not long after she became a teenager. He could see the moment he’d gotten her arms pinned behind her back - the moment she shrieked as she could feel the muscle tearing. And his handlers ordering him to stand down. That was the last time he was ever brought out of Cryo to train anyone. After all, no one wanted him to damage the pride of the Red Room.

The red head quirked her brow at him when she realized he was staring. Then, when she noticed the empty distance in his eyes, mouthed something to the brunette on his right. Bucky was completely unaware he’d drifted into a waking nightmare. They were rare, but had a way of shaking him more deeply than the ones that hand a tendency to ruin his sleep.

“Bucky,” Taryn whispered, squeezing his hand under the table. “Bucky?” Her voice was a whisper, harsh but still one.

“I don’t know what’s on it, actually didn’t think it made it back here until I was doing suit maintenance last night,” Sam said, sliding a thumb drive past the pile and down to Tony. Between the sound of the plastic grazing the table and Taryn’s touch Bucky snapped out of it. He shook his slightly, a soft grunt escaping his throat. Turning his attention to the drive, ignoring the files, helped him recenter on the present.

Tony looked at it quizzically, reaching across Steve to pick it up. “FRIDAY, set up a partitioned portion of the server in the primary conference room,” he said to the ever present AI.

“It’s ready Boss,” she replied back to him as Tony plugged it into the usb hub near the front of the Table. “Hey Sam,” he asked, “where did you get this?”

The Vet looked up from the file in his hand, it was mostly in Russian – a language he didn’t speak, “I pulled it off a HYDRA agent. There were two of them coming out of the computer mainframe on our level,” He motioned between Taryn and himself, “It’s how we got separated.” His voice got softer as he uttered those words.

“Boss you’ll want to see this,” FRIDAY said, interrupting the conversation. On the screen, the drive opened like a flower in bloom. It was, surprisingly, more like a data vault than anything else.

The super soldier grimaced as the picture of his battered body appeared on screen - lying the in the snow at the bottom of that ravine. Steve, most of all, became increasingly uncomfortable to the point of fidgeting in his seat. There were crime scene like photographs in shades of sepia and gray that began littering the screen. Some in the mountains, others in the very based they’d all narrowly escaped.

Bucky turned his hand palm up to interlaced his fingers with Taryn’s.

As he did so he took deep breaths: In for four. Hold for four. Exhale for four. Hold for four. Repeat.

“What are these,” Steve muttered.   


FRIDAY’s voice brought him the answer, “It’s a full documentation of what they did with Sergeant Barnes as well as the success and failures of several subsequent attempts at recreating or indoctrinating personnel as additional Winter Soldier candidates.” There was a pause, almost like the AI were trying to chose its words careful. Like it might be concerned, the way Steve and the others would, with how what it was about to say might impact Bucky. “It seems that not only was the Sergeant only truly successful Winter Soldier but that HYDRA and those organizations working in concert with them had programs dedicated to attempting to recreate the program success of the original process.”

“But Zemo killed the others. He shot them,” Bucky said, his mouth dry. If it hadn’t been for Taryn squeezing his hand, he’d have thought he was in another horrible nightmare. It was evident from his demeanor, the color had drained from his face, that he’d never heard of any of these successive (or intermediary) attempts to recreate what he became. Or, as he was sure HYRDA truly intended, create something better.

Steve scanned some of the documents that had been sent to the conference room’s tablets. He sighed, “They weren’t outright recreations buddy.” His eyes shifted to Wanda out in the kitchen area.The program that had given she and Pietro their powers was listed on the number of failed attempts - despite the results. With a deep breath he continued, “They were diversifying.”  

What neither Steve nor Tony were saying, as the Ironman cut off the display at the front of the room, was that HYDRA’s efforts had continued sporadically until two years prior. At least that was as far as even FRIDAY had gotten into the decryption of the mobile data vault.  “I’m gonna need some time with this, care to assist Captain,” Tony said.

“Sure,” Steve shrugged. With a sigh he added, “The rest of you are dismissed.”

—

Bucky and Taryn inevitably made their way down to lap pool. Despite the stitches, Doctor Cho hadn’t told the Inhuman to keep her leg wound dry. It was an L-shaped, Olympic length pool with enough width to accommodate 6 full lanes lanes. Helping her down the stairs in the corner of the shallow, four foot deep end, Bucky finally muttered, “I really only thought they’d made a second attempt in 1991.”

He waded in, the water cool as it lapped against his chest.

“You don’t have to justify anything to me,” she said, wading over to him.

Bucky was staring at the water, they pair had reached the five foot depth. Leaning against the pool wall, eyes following the patterns reflected off the bottom on the water. “But,” he sighed, “But I feel like I should have known. Like I…” His voice trailed off. More than anything he felt like he should have known. Should have seen or realized, in those brief moments of clarity, that HYDRA was up to something. Unlike the others - mostly Cap, T’Challa, and Taryn - he held himself responsible for everything he’d done Everything.

“Do you remember those first few weeks in Romania,” she asked. It was her turn to distract him.

Bucky chuckled, “I remember being on edge. Like I had way too much energy and didn’t know what to do with it. So someone set me to putting together furniture. And you’re trying to distract me.” He countered, fully aware of what his paramor was up to. “Taryn, I appreciate it but, I don’t think any of those walkthroughs is going to help, not this time,” he said, shaking his head. “These last few years have been a roller coaster but when I look back at what happened when I was the Winter Soldier all I can think about his how I should have died the day I fell off that train and none of it would have happened. How it was my fault all those people suffered and there had to be a way to make it right. Before that briefing, hell, before we found the Mountain I thought I was making progress.”

He swallowed, looking at Taryn softly. “Now I just don’t know Doll, I just don’t know,” he enveloped her in a hug. Afraid that letting go meant he’d drift away into nothingness.


	3. Chapter 3

**The MOUNTAIN: The Winter Soldier  
**

Bucky sat in one of the multitude of classroom like training rooms in the Compound. He’d wanted to be alone. Sitting up on the screen was the face of a his veritable doppelganger: Arkady Palevchenko.  He’d been the reason, it turned out, that Steve and the others froze during the de-briefing a couple weeks earlier. The reason he had been pulled of missions – which Taryn then pulled herself in protest. He smiled to himself, Arkady’s personnel folder plastered on the wall.

As if he were having it now, Bucky could hear the conversation he’d had with Steve the following morning. “Do you know him,” the blond had asked.

At the time, Bucky felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Arkady had been the only potential Winter Soldier candidate they trained with him as an almost equal. The two looked alike, had similar backgrounds – albeit Arkady was from Utah not New York – and even had similar combat skill levels.  He’d been someone they suspected could be Bucky’s replacement if he ever happened to die or be utilized should they need another Asset. That had been until Bucky was able to get to freedom. He remembered his throat went dry and he had cottonmouth thinking about the altercation that followed. It was the only one from their time on the run that Taryn didn’t know about, at least not at the time.

She knew now. They all knew. He hadn’t stayed around to see the reactions from the rest of the team.

Arkady had been sent to finish the one failed mission of the Winter Soldier. Capture or kill/recover an Inhuman for in depth study in order to replicate Inhuman DNA and abilities in HYDRA agents and volunteers. But before he got to Taryn, he’d run into Bucky. In the conversation with Steve he’d said, “I know him.

Brow furrowed, Steve asked, “What can you tell us about him?”

“He won’t be a problem,” his face was dark, and he’d answered before he could even think about what he was saying. They all knew what he meant.  The fact that his face fell and he bowed his head slightly practically telegraphed that he’d been the one to put an end to the second successful Winter Soldier.

With a heavy sigh, Steve had asked, “What happened Buck?” It came tumbling out: How Arkady had run into him in the street when they were in Canada. Taryn had been out getting them supplies when the two men’s paths crossed. He’d called him “soldat”, the same impersonal title everyone used for him. They’d had a conversation, he told Steve, where Arkady confirmed he was there for the girl and that it would be far better for the “soldat” to complete his mission. When Bucky hadn’t moved or made any sign of recognition, was the moment the other man had known something was wrong. This had been the other man’s first official mission, period. After a moment, he’d continued, outlining what had happened, the length and severity of the fight and how he’d kept it from Taryn. During his account,  Natasha, Wanda, Taryn, and Vision had congregated around the trio (Tony had been there when Steve started with Bucky as well).

After that he’d hastily left the main room. Something about the story had put the others on edge, at least that was what he suspected. That was how he read the team’s response. He’d dreaded it. But worse he’d dreaded reliving Arkady’s death. The youth had been the first that he’d had to kill after he and Taryn took off on the run. No the first since breaking free of HYDRA though.

Hands rested on his shoulders and Bucky jumped about eighteen inches into the air. “Jesus,” he snapped, turning as his feet hit the floor to find Steve staring him in the face. “Punk,” the brunette groaned at his oldest living friend.

“Thought it’d be better if I talked to you,” he said.

Sighing, Bucky shifted to sit on one of the tables, “There’s nothing to talk about Steve.”

The blonde sighed, shaking his head, “Really? You killed him Buck. Normally I wouldn’t bat an eye at that, but…”

“It was my choice,” he finished. “I could have probably just …I don’t know. But I also remembered what had been done to Arkady, knew the kind of soldier he was. He always stood almost as good a chance as you did at being unaffected by any non-lethal force I could’ve used.” He swallowed. He hadn’t gone into details with him, but he could remember pinning Arkady. Using the same move Steve had used on him in the Insight Helicarrier. Could remember the cracking popping noise that followed after dislocating both of the young man’s shoulders. The other soldier had lacked a bionic arm – or bionics of any kind – and the pain of two dislocations put him down. Then, without thinking about the consequences, Bucky had used his weight and the strength of his metal arm to keep Arkady pinned down and snap his neck. After which he had dragged Arkady’s body away and left him somewhere HYDRA would find him.

It was better if none of the public found him. Arkady, unlike Bucky, had actually been a HYDRA Agent. His face plastered across the news would attract more attention and inquiry to the area than he was capable of dealing with. At the time, he’d hoped it would be enough to buy them the time needed for Bucky and Taryn to get underway for Portugal. In hindsight, he’d been right.  

Unbeknownst to Bucky or Taryn, three weeks after arriving in Portugal, Arkady had been found in a cryotube in the HYDRA base near where they’d stayed in New Brunswick. That was until today.

Steve leaned against a heavy table behind him, partially seated on it, and asked, “I understand that you had to protect the both of you but still.”  

“No you don’t.” He sighed heavily, staring down at his palms, imagining the blood that he felt stained them over the last fifty plus years, “There’s no way, even if I’d been alone, that Arkady would have lived. He would have turned the situation into one where I’d have been forced to kill him. But Taryn, she was the one time I had a choice before the fall of SHIELD.” He swallowed, blue eyes beginning to trace the lines on his palms. “I couldn’t…” he trailed off, not ready to share the rest of that thought.

Steve’s face was soft for the first time in ages. “Does she know that’s why the other Winter Soldier died?”

“Except he didn’t,” Bucky added, handed a sheet of paper to his best friend. “I broke his neck for nothing. Arkady has been out there killing and committing whatever atrocities for hire he’s been able to since he was pulled out of cryo. Someone saved him. Or maybe I didn’t do my job right.” They all knew the goal in letting Bucky and Arkady become close had been to make him less likely to kill the younger man if it came to it. Despite everything HYDRA had done to foster a bond between Bucky and his would-be replacement,

Taryn’s voice was soft when she finally interrupted the two men. Neither had heard her slink down the corridor towards them. “But you did Sarge, you protected us both. And now, if he’s coming for us, we’re gonna know. So, you don’t have to do this alone - not anymore. Well…you didn’t need to then either,” her voice was soft, but there was also no sign of scolding.

“When did you,” Steve asked, waving his hand at the room and the doorway. He’d been certain that none of the others had followed him to the training classroom.

Pointing at the ceiling she chuckled, “FRIDAY’s a traitor.”

Bucky looked between his best friend and his partner and relaxed for the time. He knew they would both forgive or at least understand what happened - even when he wasn’t willing to do the same for himself.

—

Out in the treeline, Arkady Palevchenko watched the Avenger’s compound. The Winter Soldier, his former idol, was going to die for his twofold failures. Then he’d kill the Inhuman - it would be a waste but it would make him feel better. Then he was going after the Captain - that was for pride, for HYDRA.  This plan was everything. It was the only thing. He had focused on during the last few years to the point of obsession. All the time spent time in surgery, physical therapy, and rehab to fix his spine was for this.

—

Bucky’s anxiety level didn’t relent over the next several weeks. He could feel that something was coming, that they weren’t done with the events in the Alps. Not yet. He looked over the recon that Steve and Tony had done -no sign of Arkady.

Clint and Natasha were out in the field looking for anything sign of him. Some alias they could use or even a current photo. It was a safe presumption that he’d changed his appearance in the last several years. Bucky actually half regretted not doing something along those lines. Then again, he tended to blend in so long as his arm was covered. Shaking his head he banished the tangential thought. He couldn’t afford to be distracted at the moment.   

Vision and Wanda had gone on a mission. Well, they were calling it a mission – really it was a long overdue romantic vacation for the pair. In fact, the only full-time Avengers compound residents present were Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Taryn. Even Tony and Rhodey were out of the compound. The one was with Pepper and the other had been summoned back to his current, “technical” duty station. They were eerily alone in the residential portion of the facility.

With a heavy sigh, Bucky finally eased himself out of bed. It was later in the morning than normal for him to get up but between his heightened anxiety and some veritable horse tranquilizers the night before – thank you Doctor Cho – he’d slept heavier than normal. Even Taryn’s getting up earlier in the morning hadn’t roused him. It was novel, unsettling, but novel.

He headed for the communal area – the kitchen, living, and dining areas. It included a view of the game room with its shattered pool table – wait a minute. He stopped, frozen between the adrenaline dump and the panic that started at the edge of his awareness. Sam was battered and bloody under the splinters that had been the game, even from here he could see the other Avenger breathing. That was a relief.

“FRIDAY,” Bucky called out, regaining control of his senses and bolting towards his often antagonistic friend. Nothing. The AI was silent. Even better.

–

Down in the pool, Taryn pulled herself up onto the deck. “Hey, FRIDAY is –“ she was cut off by the sound of heavy metal shutters sliding closed over the  wall of windows facing the woods. “What the hell.” The pool room was all but pitch black.

The AI’s voice echoed across the wing with pool, “Siege protocols activated.”

“Well shit,” she spat, grabbing her towel and water shoes from the bleachers and taking off at a run.

–

When the shutters came down, the blonde didn’t wait for any response from FRIDAY. He’d helped Tony build the siege protocols. The base-side response to Ultron. In case any of the team went rogue it was meant to keep them contained in the building and easier for them to deal with. That said, it required the express authorization of an Avenger and the only people present were Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Taryn.

As he raced down the hallway towards the stairs, Steve didn’t register the fire control doors slamming shut until he nearly crashed into one. “Well this is just dandy,” he grumbled.

These doors were meant to contain Thor. They’d given up on Hulk-proofing anything.

–

“Siege protocols activated”

He heard the flicker of static over the main screen in the media room as he knelt beside Sam, checking for anything worse than a probable concussion. Looking up, he saw on split screen, Taryn and Steve racing down different halls from the training areas of the building. By the looks of things the blond had been in the weight room and the brunette in the pool. Then he saw the heavy fire suppression doors slam shut on either side of them.  Both were trapped on the same floor.

“The fuck,” he snapped, slowly pulling Sam up so the other man was half draped over Bucky’s shoulders. Moving slowly he got him over and onto the big couch across from the TV and scanned the room. No one. There was no one else in the room. Or on the floor for that matter. Not as far as he could tell. But the knot in his stomach and the jolt that ran up his spine told Bucky otherwise- someone was there.

They had to be.

Even with the lights on, the room was dark once the shutters closed completely.  “Well this terrible,” he muttered, taking another look at Sam as he backed towards the kitchen. Improvised weapons 101 – fire and blades. Or not. There was a crunch of someone stepping broken wood in the game room and Bucky moved. He grabbed the French Press and  threw a fistful of wet coffee grounds at the noise. It splattered, leaving a smudge about chest high.

Then the laughter.

“ _< Brother>_,” Arkady’s voice was like a knife, it didn’t matter that he used Russian to address Bucky. The older man wanted to be ill as his would-be successor seemed to materialize into place. “ _< Stark made a smaller version of that camouflage tech SHIELD uses on some of the planes. Figured I would…mmm… borrow it>_,” he sneered. Of course he didn’t want anyone but Bucky to understand what he was saying. There was still something off in the other man’s speech pattern, like he wasn’t himself. Or he’d finally crested the hill from dogged focus to obsession.

Swallowing, the brunette, backed up to the knife block on the opposite counter. “This is your one chance to walk away kid,” he said, hand finding the chef knife. Stark could have a fit later. It wasn’t his combat knife but it would suffice; considering the number of times he’d see Taryn or Wanda nearly take off a finger slicing something.  All he had to do was buy time for Steve or Taryn to get out of their respective hallways and  up to the main living area. In theory.

Arkady was grinning, ear to ear. It accentuated some of the scars from the surgeries to repair his spine. “<Oh, this,>” he said, motioning to the longest scar. What Bucky could see of it came up over the back of his head and stopped shy of Arkady’s ear. “ _< You’re good brother, but I’m better. You crushed part of my spine, broke several vertebrae, even cracked a portion of my skull. They had to replace so much.>_” His chuckles made Bucky’s skin crawl.

Watching his old mentor’s eyes flicker to the screen behind him, Arkady smiled.

Cap and Taryn were both still in their respective sections of corridor. The blonde inspecting the doors, looking for a weak spot. The woman, however, sat against the wall – legs folded underneath her. “ _< Mmm…you don’t have to worry about them brother, I’ll take excellent care of your friends there,>” _he said, a strange mix of elation and calm oozing through the other man’s words _. “ <It’s the last you’ll see of them, these images,>_” he added, running a hand through his black-brown crew cut as the screen clicked off. Only blackness stared back at them now.

“What do you want,” Bucky said, gripping the handle of the kitchen knife. What he wouldn’t give for his rifle.

Taking aim at the other man, Arkady sneered, switching back to English, “For your to feel every moment of pain and shame that I did.”

–

What the security cameras hadn’t and couldn’t pick up was Steve punching every access and command code he could think of into the key console by the doors until one worked. Finally the fire control doors slid open and a sickening scream of metal and concrete reached his ears. Immediately he flatted against the wall.

The doors directly across from him were practically wrenched out of their wells. “You okay,” He called to Taryn, she was a few hundred feet down the hall on her knees. She flashed a thumbs up, head bowed and visibly breathing heavily.

She shouted breathily, “You go on! I’m gonna see about this damn siege mode!” He made a note to tell Tony that it was definitely not Taryn proof. Which meant it also wasn’t Wanda proof, let alone Thor proof.  

“You’ll be okay,” he asked again.

Nodding, the brunette waved him on. Shattering a set of blast doors meant to keep Thor in had taken more out of her than anticipated. More than the power she could usually channel to overload someone’s nervous system. What she didn’t say to Cap, and Bucky would scold her for later, was that everything hurt after using that much power. Steve disappeared around the corner and Taryn vomited as she stood up. “Oh my god today sucks,” she grumbled, wiping her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Mountain: Downhill**

“Hi there,” Taryn smirked, opening the door to the floor with the lab into one of a group of mercenaries. She was leaning heavily against the heavy door but swinging the small, emergency sized, fire extinguisher into one of the invader’s heads before shoving him into his closest comrade was easy. There were seven of them trying to get into a sealed lab – at least the Siege Protocols were keeping them out of the mission critical areas.

She body checked another mercenary into a wall, hitting him in the back of the head with the return swing on her fire extinguisher. Four down, three to go.

A fifth man charged at her only get the contents of the fire extinguisher discharged in his face. It was unpleasant at best and bought her a minute to step out of the way while he gagged on the otherwise toxic air. Stealing a move from Natasha, she planted her right foot in his groin sent him to the ground. Another kick to side of the head and he was out. For extra measure she landed the best punt possible in his side – between pieces of body armor. “Ass bag,” she grumbled as the two remaining men turned on her and opened fire.

Ducking behind a metal desk she cursed. She was still woefully drained from the earlier exertion needed to get out of her temporary prison. And the swim clothes she had on were definitely not the usual combat suit. As she tried to conjure enough power for a barrier she heard a set of doors slide open and the men screamed before something roared and threw them. She saw one of the remaining men go flying down the hallway and stairs she’d come up. The other, it sounded, had gone through an interior window.

Something snorted and she inched her way around her improvised cover. Eyes wide, Taryn stammered, “Ban…err…Hulk?! What the? When did you get here?!”

The green rage monster snorted, “Banner not on schedule. Research.” The behemoth pointed back into the partially ruined lab.

“Oh…um…thank you for the assist,” she squeaked. Everything she knew of Bruce Banner’s altered state of being had put the fear of god in her. As it should. That said, his presence in the building – when he was supposed to have been at a research facility held by Stark Enterprises working with a number of other Avengers-friendly scientists on something with Doctor Strange.

Hulk pointed to her as Taryn stood, leaning against the wall. “Bleeding,” he grunted.

Looking down her left side, she could see where a couple rounds had pierced her previously injured thigh. “Uh. What else is new,” she groaned.

–

Duck left. Right. Block with the forearm. Shin to shin. Drop, leg sweep followed by knife sweep on the rise. Bucky ran every attack combination he could come up with as he and Arkady moved through the common area. Where he could, Bucky would knock over furniture or throw something hefty at the other man. He officially owned Clint a new Play-station and had ruined a couple of the cast iron pans.

He had, however, managed to get a few good shots in with the kitchen knife. A long gash ran the length of Arkady’s right arm and a smaller one now bisected his face over the bridge of the nose. But the super soldier had also taken a number of hits. He’d been shot once or twice – before crushing the muzzle of the assault rifle, resulting in an small explosion. There were also definitely cracked ribs and a few cuts where he’d been unable to twist out of the way of Arkady’s k-bar.

Bucky caught the knife arm in his left hand, putting pressure on his wrist enough to force the other man’s hand to release the knife. The knife clattered to the ground slid as they wrestled. He drove his other fist into Arkady’s side. There was body armor, muscle, and scar tissue that gave way to varying degrees with each blow that landed. Insofar as he was concerned, Bucky had to stop his one-time would-be protégé.

Stopping him meant an end to the Winter Soldier. The end of what HYDRA had made him. Even if it meant that one or both of them died.

He flipped Arkady over his shoulder, through the glass high top table. Knocking over the cast iron stand and sending him to the floor.

Bucky could see the young man as he was, even the day they fought in New Brunswick. “I won’t let you near them,” he growled, wishing that he could see the camera feeds of Steve and Taryn.  Needed to know his near-brother was okay. Needed to see that Taryn hadn’t been hurt. Without those, all he could do was pray they were safe. No matter what happened, as he blocked a series of recovery swipes from Arkady, he had to protect those two. They might be able to take care of themselves but both Steve and, to a lesser extent, Taryn had a habit of getting into trouble to help him.

They both heard heavy, hurried, footfalls as someone came charging up the stairs.  It was Steve’s voice that broke them out of their concentrated dance. Bucky was so focused on the fight, on countering the other man that he only heard tonality and pitch. Enough to recognize Steve.

Both men paused, for a moment and Arkady dropped his guard when Steve shouted at him from the far side of the floor. Bucky shoved him and shouted, “Steve! Get out of here!” It felt like the HYDRA facility in Azano all over again. Only this time, he could do more. He had to or else his past would be what destroyed everything, not some lunatic with a red skull and a narcissistic superiority complex.

In the second his attention was turned to his friend, a leg sweep from the Arkady knocked him onto his back. As he came back up from the attack, Arkady drew his back up firearm - a 9mm hand gun - and turned it on Steve.

Bucky pushed himself up and lunged, grabbing his counterpart by the wrist with his right arm and slamming his metal forearm into the other man’s elbow. A shot flew, missing Steve and embedding in the wall of the stairwell behind him. Before the blonde could take off towards them, another pop followed while the two men struggled for the gun. It reverberated throughout the floor and, for Bucky, everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion.

Right hand over his abdomen, Bucky fell towards the floor. Blood was dripping down over his hand as he tried to put pressure over the wound. Tried to stop his bleeding. But he knew how catastrophic a gunshot wound could be – no matter where it was. He could hear Arkady laughing, cackling.

From his peripheral vision, he could see the blurred figure doing what was almost a touchdown dance as Steve broke into a run towards him. Everything felt heavy. He was nauseous.

Steve caught his best friend, ignoring Arkady as he pressed his hands over the gunshot wound. The two went to their knees as Arkady continued laughing, taking aim again, this time at Steve – who’s back was to him. He never felt the gun barrel as it lined up with the back of his head.

Another shot rang out.

This time it came from the media room’s couch.  “Fuck. You.” Sam groaned, pushing himself up off the couch slowly. His shot put Arkady down. Another one, as he let off a second round from the gun Bucky had left with him, kept the would-be Winter Soldier down.

The moment stretched into eternity. He hadn’t set the lockdown protocols, or - as the shutters slid open - lifted them. He could, however, summon a medical team and hope it wasn’t too late. “FRIDAY,” he called out breathily, everything hurt, “Medical team. GSW to the abdomen. Sergeant James Barnes. Tell them the move it.”

That was when he heard Steve frantically calling his best friend’s name and Taryn scream from the opposite end of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**THE MOUNTAIN: Clean Up**

The monitors beeped away, they were worse than the slow march of time. Heart rate, breathing, and a half dozen other hospital monitors were hooked up to Bucky Barnes.  Had it been hours or days? As he started climbing out of the drug induced haze he’d been in since taking the bullet to his abdomen. Adding it to the list of wounds he’d earned thanks to HYDRA and the Winter Soldier Program. Groaning, he heard someone on his left shuffling. The movements were slow and the hand that clapped on his shoulder was big, heavy.

“Welcome back,” it was Steve.

Eyes cracking open, he could see the other super soldier. “Hoorah,” Bucky croaked. There’d been a tube down his throat at one point. Speaking even the one word had revealed just how raw is throat was.

There was a cup and some food on the small wheeled table that Steve moved into place over Bucky’s legs. “Doc made sure something was here for when you woke up,” he said as the brunette fumbled with the hospital bed remote. They were still in the Compound – that much he could tell from the décor.

“Woo,” he said, taking the water cup first – that he needed more than anything. Taking a few swigs of the room temperature fluid, he could feel Steve watching. Hovering, like a frantic mother hen. Hadn’t that been his job? Mr. Mom, take care of everyone? Oh how times had changed. Sighing, he asked, “How bad,” pointing to himself and then making a circle with his free hand. He absolutely wanted to know what Arkady had accomplished besides nearly killing him.

Steve chuckled, “Well, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of Taryn’s powers, ever.” Bucky quirked an eyebrow, giving Steve a face that practically ordered him to continue. “She and Bruce – well, the Hulk – took care of the guys Arkady brought with him. SHIELD was able to round them up, well, except for the guy that fell down a few stories. But that was on Hulk. Sam shot Arkady, both are in intensive care. Sam’ll be alright but they’re not sure Arkady will regain consciousness.” No one was exactly sure how he’d survived – between Bucky’s beating and Sam’s bullets.

Bucky interrupted, “Good.”

Shaking his head, Steve continued, “Sam managed to save both of us. One good shot to the back of the neck, near the base of the skull took him down.” He paused, “Don’t think it helped him any that when she saw what had happened, after regaining her sense, Taryn threw an energy pulse at him.” Had Bruce not been there to catch her, Steve was sure the Inhuman would’ve either passed out or started throwing things like kitchen crockery at the prone Arkady.

There was shuffling outside his room in the medical bay’s hallway. As he walked past, leaning on a crutch, Sam yelled, “I still hate you Ice-man!” He didn’t but the snide remark made Bucky laugh. Poor choice – laughing still hurt.

“Did I mention you have a number of cracked ribs,” Steve added when his veritable brother grimaced.

Sighing, Bucky noted, “No, you didn’t. Um,” he started, realizing the Inhuman was nowhere to be found in his recovery room, “1. How long was I out? And 2. Where is Taryn?”

“Three days and I finally had to order her out – didn’t know when she’d slept last prior to this,” it was Steve’s turn to talk with his hands, indicating the hospital room. Bucky nodded in response. Not having her there when he woke up made sense now, it was still disappointing not seeing her face but at least she was okay. After everything that had happened on the Mountain and because of it, he didn’t think he could stomach losing her too the chaos.

–

Natasha found her in the room Bucky and Taryn shared, curled up in a ball on the bed. She had her arms wrapped around one of the hoodies she routinely stole from the super soldier, face buried in it. It was like deja vu - seeing her like this echoed how Bucky had been following her near-death. The only difference was that they knew Bucky would be alright. Or at least that they could help him.

There was a moment when she wanted to sit next to her friend and hold her tight. At least, unlike weeks earlier, she had good news. Swallowing, brushing a few strands of her bright red hair back off her face, Natasha started, “Steve just texted me,” holding her phone up as if showing the message to her friend. “Bucky’s awake,” she continued, plopping down next to the brunette. “So what do you say we get you dressed and down to see the dork.”

For the first time in days, the brunette laughed. It was soft, tired, like she didn’t have the energy for it. “Hey,” she said, gently pulling her braid, “C’mon you.”

“I’m moving, I’m moving,” Taryn said, untangling herself from the blankets and Bucky’s hoodie. “See, vertical,” she said, sticking her tongue out at the other Avenger as she rose up to kneel on the mattress.

Nat laughed. “Doesn’t count ‘til you’re out of bed!”

“Oh my god, you and my mother,” she shot back, sliding off the mattress on the side opposite Natasha. She wasn’t paying much attention to anything her friend was saying beyond the push to get up. Bucky was awake! All she cared about was seeing her friend and lover, wanting to make sure he was okay.

–

Bucky threw his head back – poor choice. It started throbbing again and he groaned, sinking further down into the medbay bed. He hated being bed ridden. It reminded him of all the times he’d had to take care of his siblings or Steve when they were kids. “Can I please go back to my room Doc,” he called out.

No response.

He groaned piteously.

“Don’t sound so blue Sarge,” Taryn said from the door. Natasha was standing behind her, an uncharacteristically dopey gin on her face.

Looking between the two women, Nat shoved her friend into Bucky’s room. Pulling the door closed behind her she blocked Steve’s entrance, “We’ll give you two some privacy.”

“Hey doll,” he smiled, sitting up straight in the bed. At least as straight as the thing would allow. Patting the mattress next to him, he asked, “You okay? Did you get hurt at all?”

Climbing in next to him, Taryn shrugged, “Got shot in the leg, same place I had that gash.” Her feet hung off the side as Bucky wrapped his arms around her, “Nothing a few stitches and a long lecture from Steve about watching my corners didn’t fix.” That got the super soldier laughing. He could see it now: Taryn, sitting on a gurney in the med bay, Doctor Cho or one of her medtechs stitching up the bullet holes,” Wait, you got shot?!”

“Yea…Hulk kinda pointed it out, promise I’ll tell you the story when you’re not on bed rest and recovering from a gunshot wound the chest. Which, I have words for you about that,” her tone changed, eyes narrowed and she gave him a look that would curdle milk. “Don’t  **ever** scare me like that again!”

His metal hand cupped the side of her face and pulled her to him. Lips met and let out a startled squeak, it made him chuckle softly as they kissed. “I’ll shut up now,” she whispered, a smile spreading across her face.

“Still picturing Steve reading you the riot act,” foreheads pressed together he continued, “I can see the annoyed pouty face you made.” As if on queue she made one at him, “That one!” Bucky kissed her again.

She shifted in the bed, cuddling up close to him, “You’re a butthead sometimes y’know?”

“I hate to point it out but -” he started, Taryn’s index finger across his lips silencing him.

“Super soldier serum doesn’t make you indestructible Bucky,” she said, knowing what he was about it say. It was always the argument the brunette made when he took a serious injury like this. Or chose to jump out of a perfectly good airplane - and not use a parachute. The number of times she or Wanda had needed to use their powers to insulate him from hitting the ground at terminal velocity was ridiculous. Or Sam had shot down to grab him before the other Super Soldier hit the ground. “You’re one of if not the best fighter I know but you always fight like there’s something to prove when it comes to anything related to HYDRA or the Winter Soldier Project.”

He’d set his jaw, relaxing some when one of her hands came up to rest against his face, “Bucky. I don’t know what I’d do if you…” She trailed off, unable to say the words. It was a thought he’d contemplated heavily when all reports presumed she was dead after the foray into the Mountain. When their positions were reversed he’d prayed for any opportunity to switch places with and save her. It didn’t occur to him what his potential death might mean for her.

His other arm circled around her waist, “I’m not going anywhere Doll. I promise.”


	6. Chapter 6

**THE MOUNTAIN: The Dawn Comes**

Bucky sat out on the edge of the lake. He’d walked all the way there from the Compound to think. Gotten up before dawn, a normal occurrence, to have some time before any of the others woke. Sighing, he rubbed his hands together – today was the day, several years in the making and he was finally going to do it.

He’d even recruited Wanda and Nat into helping. Steve, however, had volunteered.  That surprised no one.

Now, as he collected himself – sitting on the small dock on the stretch of lake-side nearest the compound, Bucky went over the plan. Or at least how he hoped the day was going to go. Wanda’s job was to take Taryn out for an impromptu girls day out. Keep her out of the Compound until 6:00 that night.  In the interim, Steve would secure the package. Nat would help him with the set up on the roof, then she had the added job of chasing the others out of the compound. Especially Tony.

The details swirled in his mind; in particular what he planned to say.

Exhaling slowly, he nodded, “Alright Barnes, you can do this. Just,” he looked down at his phone’s clock, “Twelve and half hours to go.”

–

“What time do I need to be there,” Steve asked, looking at Bucky as the girls drove off in one of the umpteen cars Stark kept onsite for the team to use. Really they were there for him but the others could always drive them if needed.

Pulling up his calendar, he looked for the only item in red. If he was being honest it was the only item on the phone’s calendar. “Fourteen hundred,” he said, phone clock now reading ten.  “So long as you’re back here by seventeen thirty, everything should be set,” he added, leveling his gaze at his best friend.

It got him a glare in return from the blonde. Bucky’s nerves were starting to rear their head. “Everything’ll be fine,” Steve said, playfully punching the other Brooklyner in the shoulder, “We’ve got this.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he chuckled. “Alright, Nat, shall we?” The red-head had been waiting patiently on one of the puffy chairs, scrolling through her email since things kicked off several hours earlier with the group filtering into the common areas.

Furrowing his brow, Sam finally asked, “What package? What are you three up to?” He’d been sitting at the bar, munching on some bacon while they others conspired. Listening intently to the conversation – they were careful. No clues given except that there was some kind of time table.  There were no birthdays. No anniversaries. Nothing. So that ruled out some surprise party being thrown. If Stark were involved, he could’ve written it off as something he was doing because he felt like it. No, with these three it was something else.

“Don’t worry about it Sam,” Steve said, waving him off.

Eyes narrow, he probed, “I could just text Taryn to see what you’re up to.”

“No,” all three shouted in unison. Natasha practically vaulted out of her chair, ready to tackle him to the ground and relieve him of his phone before either Bucky or Steve could move.

Brow quirked and interest piqued he kept an eye on the trio, “Well then.” A broad grin spread across his face, “Count me in.” It had taken exactly zero seconds for him to figure out what was going on now that all three of his friends were about ready to hog tie him to keep him from texting the Inhuman.

Natasha spoke first, “Count you in on what?”

“Really,” Sam teased, brow raised. “You three are up to something. Taryn and Wanda just left for the day. Either it’s something for Wanda and Vision or, more likely, that one,” he motioned to Bucky with his mug of coffee, “Is up to something. And you don’t want me texting your girl. Sooooo, I’m thinking Popsicle here, is about to do some big romantic thing like…propose.” He dragged out that last word, watching the others - Steve and Bucky - squirm. 

Natasha gave away nothing.

Bucky looked livid. Not because Sam had done the math, but because he said it aloud. The last things he wanted were for Stark or Taryn to get wind. Tony had a habit of taking these little things and turning them into extravagant fiascos. Everyone had heard about how he proposed to Pepper. She’d said yes, but it was very much…too much. The color drained from his face then he blushed, almost the color of Natasha’s red hair. “Only if you can help keep the others out of this.” The compound was uncharacteristically packed.

He flashed a huge grin and a thumbs up. “Redwing and I’ve got this,” he said, downing his coffee in one gulp and practically sprinting out of the room.

“Don’t make me regret this Bird-brain,” the brunette called after the other man.

“Alright boys,” Natasha interjected as Sam disappeared around a corner.  “We have work to do.” They both made grumbles of agreement and Steve grabbed his jacket. He had to get to Washington DC and back in a matter of hours - it was usually an 8 - 12 hour drive. Thankfully, he’d been able to convince Maria Hill to let him take a Quinjet. Saying it was for official business he had in the capital.

Waving as he headed out of the main room, “I’ll catch you guys later - sixteen thirty, maybe seventeen hundred sound good?”

They nodded and he smiled.

“Alright Barnes,” Natasha spoke again, “This is your plan. Lead on.” 

He smiled broadly, grabbing the rubbermaid container he’d stuffed in a corner the night before. They pair made their way up to the roof, he wanted to decorate the corner he and Taryn escaped to when things in the main compound became too hectic. Usually that happened during one of Tony’s parties - he’d found her there more than once though since then. “She called this the best non-aerial view in town,” he said as they kicked open the roof access door.

“So what gave you this idea,” she asked, tossing a string of lights at him. She plugged her end into one of the outlet strips that she and Bruce has jury rigged up there not long before the pair arrived. As the two of them strung the lights, winding them gently around a number of lightweight metal dowels so the star shaped lights hung loosely. It created a canopy over the two as they worked.

He shrugged, grabbing a second strand, “I thought it’d be nice once I get all these hung. Give us some mood lighting.” 

“Romantic. Also you’re a dork,” Natasha sighed, catching the end of the string he tossed to her. Clicking the two cords of lights together she followed his lead until they had the outline of the makeshift gazebo ceiling netted in the lights. She had to step back, admiring their handiwork, “Okay Barnes, I admit, this was clever.”

 Sometimes it paid to have been the romantic back in his 1930s and 1940s youth. Especially combined with today’s technology. “Figured I couldn’t guarantee stars tonight,” he pointed up to the heavily clouded sky, “So I’d make sure we had some.” he was busy setting up one of the small, glass top (plastic really) tables he’d bought recently.

Nat looked up from the table she’d assembled, her own bright green eyes landing on Bucky. Shaking her red hair she sighed, “Yup. You’re a dork.” He was off in his own world..

—

Bucky stood on the rooftop, the sun was going down and everything was going smoothly. So far. Steve had made his way back from the DC-Metro area in record time. The small black box was in his right hand. He half worried he’d rub a hole in the top before Taryn got back. It was well after 1800, the girls would be getting back soon. According to the text from Wanda they were stuck in traffic.

The rumble of the car engine was like an alarm clock. He swallowed, eyes surveying his set up. “Well Bucky,” he muttered to himself, “This is either going to be fantastic or blow up in your face.” Granted it was Taryn, so he was relatively certain of the response he’d get from the brunette. Just didn’t mean he was any less anxious. Minutes felt like hours as he waited for her to be directed upstairs.

Growing up in the world before the War, he’d have asked her parents for permission. It would’ve been a pre-requisite for getting to this point. Of course, he also wouldn’t have been sent to kill her all those years ago. Or let her tag along during his flight through Canada and Europe. Granted, having an extra set of eyes and skills had been helpful more times that he cared to count.

All the same - their lives would’ve been different. This whole process. That time was long gone. As was the Bucky Barnes who came from it - who fit there. No. He was something - someone else now. Dealing Arkady’s incursion had been more than a bad day, it had been a sort of rebirth for him. Being the Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes meant more. He meant more 

He wasn’t the Asset or some pseudo-mindless automaton. No, he was an Avenger. He was a protector again. He sighed, throwing his head back to look at the darkening autumn sky, his life was his own.

Arkady hadn’t woken up. When that happened, when the protege HYDRA forced him to have had been declared brain dead, that had been his moment of rebirth. Crude as it was. He’d told Steve that he felt like a weight had been lifted. Before the Mountain, he’d felt like HYDRA was still nipping at his heels. Always too close for comfort. Now, it felt like the air was clear and he could breath again.

The access door clanged as it swung closed. “Bucky,” Taryn called out looking around the roof until she saw the canopy of lights he’d worked on.

Sam and Nat had done their job well. Thor’d been shooed out with help from Jane Foster, Clint to Peter and Scott to his place. While Tony and Pepper had been strongly encouraged (he didn’t want to know what that meant) to take an overnight trip somewhere else. Nat had even convinced Bruce to go out for the evening with her. Meanwhile Sam, Steve, Wanda and Vision were down in the main compound.

“Hey Doll,” he called out, finishing his mental checklist of people as she stopped. 

Taking in the lights - stars and a few smaller strands of regular rope lights - made her stop.  They blinked slowly, softly giving just enough light to accent the growing darkness and fire pit that Sam and he had put together. Save for the lights that illuminated the drive way and runways at the other end of the facility, they had no other lights.  

“What’s,” she said softly, confused and surprised, “all this?”

He walked over and took her hands in his. “I’ll show you,” he had the biggest grin on his face, like he’d just won the lottery. Once they were under the canopy he took a deep breath, “This is because I love you. Because you’ve been through everything with me, or as close to everything as we get in our line of work, and because I don’t want to not have you in my life.”

The color drained from her face momentarily. He could practically see the brunette’s pulse and heart rate spike as her brain caught up with what was going on. It wasn’t like the movies, it was better. Dropping to one knee, her left hand in his, he pulled the ring box out. “Taryn Elizabeth Lantz,” he called her by her full name, only the second time ever, “Will you marry me?”

That second where she had to process what had just happened was an agonizing eternity for him. The color returned to her face. She was flushed, stammering, trying to find her voice as a few errant tears preceded the flood to come. “Yes,” she finally squeaked, “Yes!”

A relieved laugh escaped him as Bucky slipped the simple band  - braided silver and gold - around her left ring finger. Then scooped her up in his arms and spun the Inhuman around. Maybe for once, he was going to have that happy ending he’d heard about growing up. Or at least as close to that as an Avenger could have. After all, even under the darkening sky with their makeshift stars and the bench he’d brought up, the tables that made it look like a gazebo, someone would have to protect the world.


End file.
